King Kong, King George and the Boomers
Glossary of terms to this rather convoluted post:
King Kong - the symbol of a once-proud monarch of nature being brought down by civilization.
King George W. Bush - the once-proud monarch of a world-esteemed country both brought down by their own arrogance.
Boomers - people who take advantage of anything made available to them.
O.K., so this post doesn't list McCain, Hagee, Clinton, Huckabee, Obama, Iraq, Iran or Televangelists in the title. And it may not be read by anyone looking for a direct link to current news, but when I noted that the classic movie, King Kong, premiered on this day in 1933, I immediately felt empathy for Kong - especially as an American citizen on this day.
America was once like King Kong: feared by some, but respected by many. The natives gave sacrifices to Kong and respected his power. His power, in fact, brought the natives together in peace to coalesce for an objective: to keep Kong at a respectful distance.
The invasion of Iraq by our stalwart King George changed America's image of strength and respect, not only because countries lost that respect and began to fear us more, but because they sensed more than ever our country's greed.
Something else happened on this day back in 1889: The Indian Appriopriations Bill was signed by Congress. In effect, this bill sanctioned the "purchase" of what is mostly now Oklahoma from the Creek, Cherokee and Seminole Indians and reassigning these "unassigned" lands to the frst people who could homestead them. Those people, oddly enough, were called BOOMERS. Over 50,000 people lined up for the first "land run" and nearly forty-five million acres were assigned in less than 4 years. How much did the Indians get paid for all of that valuable land? Oh, about 25 cents per acre.The average homestead of 160 acres was worth under $40 in expenditures to the US government. The Boomers of the era, in their own "down home" style embodied the same greed encountered by King Kong. The same greed exemplified by George Bush and his administration.
Some may say my reasoning and allegories are way out of whack. But its very hard to describe feelings and gut reactions in a reasonable fashion. King Kong was a mighty beast moviegoers identified with (especially during the Great Depression) and they felt very sorry for the beast's ignominious demise. Our country's "baby boomers" (regardless of the radical 60's) rushed for the unassigned (democratically, that is) natural resources of Iraq.
Yesterday, famous actress Angelina Jolie asked our country as well as the United Nations to help the two million Iraqi refugees who can no longer take safe harbor in Jordan or Turkey ("Sorry people, we're full up!"). How ironic, in a way: when we look at the faces of those refugees, we might as well be looking at the faces of Creeks, Seminoles and Cherokees. And they in turn might be looking at us as if we were a huge, mortally wounded beast.
America and its last friend
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